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Additional Student Opportunities

2018 Opportunities

2018 Summer Pollution Prevention Internship in Manhattan, KS

Applications are open for the Pollution Prevention Institute’s Summer Intern Program. Students with junior, senior, or graduate standing and enrolled at any Kansas Board of Regents University in engineering or science programs at the start of the internship summer are eligible to apply. This internship is an opportunity for students to conduct hands-on research in energy efficiency, water conservation, and toxics reduction at an industrial setting. Businesses use the students’ research and recommendations to implement projects that save money and reduce their environmental footprints.

Past Opportunities for undergraduates in the Environmental Studies Program:

ISIS Field Ecology Opportunities

The Institute for Sustainable International Studies, ISIS, is offering ecology field courses in Belize that offer your students a chance to study in the tropical English-speaking setting of Belize and gain valuable professional and personal experience. Belize’s rich environment, cultures and biodiversity are the labs for these courses. About 40% of the land and sea areas of Belize are set aside in protected areas, parks or reserves to protect its diverse flora and fauna.

One student summarized his experience by saying: “The field trips were the best in the Marine Ecology class. Nothing like getting outside and experiencing first hand and being able to converse with the locals! I learned a lot about the environments and problems in Belize and its culture and customs.”

Our two week winter session runs from December 26, 2013 to January 7, 2014, including travel days. The cost, $2,995, includes one course, accommodations, transportation to and from the airport, field trips and excursions, breakfasts and one transcript for transferring credit. Airfare is not included. Students receive three (3) credits from Sacred Heart College. The application deadline for winter is October 1st. Our 2014 summer sessions run in June and July. There are two week and four week programs for $2,675 and $4,225. The application deadline is March 1st for summer 2014. Application forms are available on the ISIS website.

The syllabus for each course is available on the ISIS website, www.isisbelize.com, or by clicking the link above. Cynthia Reece,creece@isisbelize.com, the Program Manager for ISIS, can respond to questions related to housing, logistics, course costs, and other details._________________________________________________________________________

Food, Farm, and Sustainability Institute- Hampshire College

Overview: From June 3 to July 12, students, faculty, staff, and alumni will come together as a living and learning community at Hampshire College. Students will gain hands-on work experience with the guidance of the Hampshire College Farm Center staff, learn through inquiry-based projects mentored by faculty with a range of expertise, and acquire ownership of knowledge through independent research projects. The institute will follow food from its origin in the soil, through plant cultivation and animal management, address issues in public health and politics, and end up in the kitchen, breaking bread and assessing the character of the food we produce and eat. There will be numerous opportunities for community building through roundtable dinner discussions with local farmers and food producers, a weekly film series, and field trips to local farms emphasizing environmental and community sustainability.

Required costs to students include $3,100 for tuition and $400 for communal meals during program hours. Lodging is an additional $1,050 for students who wish to reside on campus.

Hampshire recommends 8 academic credits for completion of the 6-week program. Students are encouraged to check with their home institutions for credit equivalent.

Online Application Deadline: March 1, 2013

For more detailed information about the Food, Farm, and Sustainability Institute, please visit the website: ffs.hampshire.edu. If you have any questions, please contact ffs@hampshire.edu.

Summer Field Courses in Southeast Alaska's Inside Passage!

The Tatoosh School is an independent, university-level field school with seasonal offices in Portland, Oregon and classrooms in the towns, oceans, and forests of Alaska’s Inside Passage.It is the school’s mission to foster first-hand learning about the ecology and environmental policy of southern Southeast Alaska.

Rigorous academics focus on the development of a sense of place and passion for civic engagement, and a sound knowledge of the Pacific coastal rainforest. Students earn 12 units of credit andleave empowered to explore their surroundings with wide-eyed curiosity and to reach out as active and informed citizens.

Traveling by sea kayak through the islands that make up Southeast’s Alexander Archipelago provides students with the opportunity to build outdoor leadership and technical skills. Lectures and assignments delve into topics ranging from island biogeography to contemporary timber management. Innovative curricula teach scientific curiosity and civic engagement in ways that students can take home and practice, building a six-week field course into a lifelong passion for wild learning.

Tatoosh School students become field scientists by participating in several established long-term ecological research programs together with our partners. These exciting projects provide students the opportunity to apply their understandings of Southeast’s dynamic terrestrial, riparian, and nearshore marine ecosystems while contributing to a valuable body of scientific data that is, in turn, used to inform management decisions across the region.

Course I - June 19 through July 29, 2013Course II - August 2 through September 11, 2013

Natural History & Ecology of Southeast Alaska (6 units)Southeast Alaska encompasses the Alexander Archipelago - composed of more than 5,000 islands - and a narrow strip of mountainous mainland, split by glacial fiords and major river systems. The land is home to an array of plant and animal life, and is considered the front lines of study in island biogeography. This course explores the natural environment from the nearshore intertidal zone to the high alpine, examining the adaptations and relationships of organisms to their environments over time and space.

Politics of Place: Southeast Alaska (6 units)This course explores the political landscape of Southeast Alaska and covers a wide range of topics including land ownership, public and private land management, conservation strategies, local and regional economies, Alaska Native cultures, land settlements, corporate structures and current resource management issues. It focuses on the evolution of social and legal structures and how those structures guide current decision-making. Inquiry and reason are applied to real-life challenges, and students engage with citizens and policymakers to consider solutions.

How do different societies address environmental problems? Answering this question requires cross-national comparisons of political institutions, regulatory styles, and state-society relations. This course relies on the theoretical tools of comparative politics to analyze different areas of environmental management, such as protection of natural resources, wilderness preservation, contamination and transboundary pollution management, global warming, renewable energy, and sustainability, among others. The Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness provides an ideal location to explore how Canada and the United States address their environmental challenges at different levels of analysis, from the local to the international. Students engage in discussions on nature conservation with members of the local community and take canoe trips to places of key environmental significance. The course is designed for undergraduate students with an interest in environmental studies, especially those pursuing environmental studies majors or minors, but no previous knowledge of political science is needed. While grounded on a comparative politics methodology, the course also draws from the natural sciences, economics, history and ethics to help students develop an interdisciplinary approach to environmental studies.
Contact Pablo Toral, toralp@beloit.edu; Wilderness Field State Website

About the Field Station: The Wilderness Field Station is a unique summer program of biological field study in the Superior National Forest in Northern Minnesota. Classes are small and personal, with no more than eight students per instructor. All courses integrate lectures and laboratory investigation with daily canoe outings. Each class undertakes a lengthy canoe trip into Boundry Waters Canoe Area Wilderness.

Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU): Addressing Social and Environmental Disparities through Community Geography and Geographic Information Systems

-Georgia State University in Atlanta. The project is funded by the National Science Foundation and runs June 10th – July 25th 2013.
-Research Interests: Working with faculty mentors in one of three research tracks, selected undergraduates will engage in community-based research and fieldwork to quantitatively and qualitatively examine neighborhood change, property markets, social geographies, air and soil quality, urban green spaces, and neighborhood visioning in partnership with neighborhood residents and community groups in Atlanta, Georgia.
-Compensation: Each REU student will receive a competitive funding package, including: a $3000 stipend, up to $250 in travel support to/from Atlanta, up to $750 for conference presentations, free room and most meals at GSU, and 3 required texts.
-Application Process: Applications are due Friday, March 1st @ 5 PM EST. To learn more visit the website.

Earth Corps is a selective field-based program that offers motivated, environmentally conscious students the opportunity to live and learn in the incredible natural classroom of the Sangre de Cristo Mountain Range. The program is designed to integrate key lessons in environmental studies with the completion of a critical environmental restoration project. Run by the Rocky Mountain Field Institute in partnership with the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs, Earth Corps attracts exceptional students from across the nation and the world to participate in this unique service learning opportunity.
Earth Corps was created to provide undergraduate students with the opportunity to directly address a critical environmental threat while immersed in a backcountry wildland environment. This hands-on program combines environmental education with environmental stewardship through an intensive 30-day field study. For the duration of the program, participants live and work in a remote setting, complete long hours of very demanding physical labor at altitudes of 11-14,000+ feet, work effectively as a team, exercise the highest level of commitment and perseverance, and make enduring friendships. Students will develop key outdoor skills during the program and through their summits of Crestone Needle and Humboldt Peak. They will practice and learn Leave No Trace, backcountry navigation, alpine mountaineering, and risk management. Upon successful completion of the program, each student will receive 4 hours of credit from the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs (GES 446: Field Studies in Geography).
Earth Corps 2013 will help complete the South Colony Lakes Basin Restoration Project. Crestone Needle (14,197’), Crestone Peak (14,295'), Kit Carson Peak (14,163') and Humboldt Peak (14,064’) tower 6,000’ above the San Luis Valley in Southern Colorado. Thousands of backcountry enthusiasts are drawn to this area each year to summit the '14'ers'. Crestone Needle is regarded as one of the top 50 climbs in North America. The basin and surrounding peaks have been atop the Forest Service’s list of management priority areas for many years. RMFI began working in partnership with the Forest Service in 1996 to establish the basin as a model for how high-use locations within a Wilderness area should be cared for. RMFI’s work to date includes the construction of summit routes to the Needle and Humboldt, major repairs to the basin’s trail system, and the restoration of visitor created social trails and campgrounds.

2013 Program Dates: July 8-August 6

Environmental Studies Events

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